Samsung to unveil new Galaxy Note, smartwatch

Electronics giant expected to show off ‘concept’ watch at IFA show

By

DanGallagher

Bloomberg

Samsung launched the Galaxy Note 2 smartphone last fall, and is expected to unveil the next device called the Galaxy Note 3 on Wednesday at the IFA conference in Germany.

SAN FRANCISCO (MarketWatch) — Samsung Electronics is expected to debut a new version of its large-screen Galaxy Note smartphone at an event in Germany on Wednesday — along with its first foray into the nascent “smartwatch” category.

Samsung
005930, -2.47%SSNLF, -4.49%
has scheduled an event for Wednesday at the IFA consumer electronics trade show in Berlin. The company is expected to unveil the Galaxy Note 3 — an updated version of its popular line of large-screen smartphones. The company introduced its predecessor device at last year’s IFA show ahead of a fall launch.

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More notable, however, may be the debut of the company’s first smartwatch that is already being called Galaxy Gear.

A Samsung executive confirmed the device in an interview with the Korea Times newspaper last week. Referring to the product as a “new wearable concept device,” the executive said the Galaxy Gear will use a non-flexible display and is designed to “enhance and enrich the current smart mobile experience in many ways” — suggesting the product will act as a peripheral to the company’s Galaxy smartphones.

That leaves many questions about what the device will actually do. Also, use of the term “concept” has some wondering if the Galaxy Gear will see a wide market launch this year. Existing smartwatches operate as either a fitness-focused device, like the Nike FuelBand, or offer some alerts tied with a smartphone, like an incoming message or appointment.

“What Samsung can do is integrate the device with the phone, and that’s a big deal because it’s what frustrates consumers,” on most of the current products, Sarah Rotman Epps of Forrester told MarketWatch.

The existing market for so-called smartwatches is still small, though major like Sony
6758, -1.45%SNE, -2.64%
and Nike
NKE, +0.18%
have already launched products in this space, as have smaller startups such as Pebble. Apple
AAPL, -0.87%
is widely believed to be developing a product that many have dubbed as the iWatch — though most analysts do not expect a launch by the company this year.

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Sony shows off its Smartwatch MN2 with its Xperia smartphone on April 15. Priced at $130, the watch connects to Android smartphones using Bluetooth technology.

Epps said it remains unclear as to what Samsung’s intentions will be for the device, as well as the potential market.

“Watches are a declining form factor, and smartwatches have been around in some form for a decade and not gotten a lot of traction,” she said. “It could be that Samsung is getting the timing right, or it could be that smartwatches are a sci-fi product that don’t have a place in the real world.”

The new Galaxy Note 3 will be a less risky bet. Samsung launched the first version of its large-screen smartphone in late 2011, effectively carving out the market for so-called phablets [a cross between a smartphone and tablet]. It added the Galaxy Note 2 to the lineup last year.

This year’s version is expected to come with a larger screen — 5.7 inches compared with 5.5 inches for the Galaxy 2 — according to some leaks to gadget blogs. It will also likely feature a more powerful chipset and high-capacity battery.

Demand for large-screen smartphones has grown steadily. IDC estimates that devices with 5-inch screens and larger represented about 14% of global smartphone sales in the first half of 2013, compared with about 3% share in the same period last year. About 22% of Samsung’s total smartphone sales in the June quarter were for phones of this size, according to data from data from Kantar Worldpanel ComTech.

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